Cloud computing is forecast to cut worldwide data centre energy usage by 38% in 2020, according to Pike Research. Pike, which specializes in cleantech, said that cloud computing has garnered a lot of attention for its efficiency and cost savings, but not has much focus has been on energy consumption.

According to Pike, the adoption of cloud computing should lead to the following scenario: Data centres will consume 139.8 terawatt hours of electricity in 2020 due to cloud computing adoption, down from 31% from 201.8 terawatt hours in 2010.

Source: Smart Planet

AST Modular has put a free-air cooling module on top of its data centre container. The resulting low-energy combination, which is in use at an efficient data centre in Iceland, is being sold by IBM.

2010 has been a pivotal year for “greening” data centres. The drive towards cloud computing and the flood of new digital information has caused mission critical facilities to undergo a true revolution.

As IT continues to get more dynamic, there is a renewed emphasis on reducing complexity, streamlining infrastructure and reducing energy costs. By managing efficient data centres, companies will gain tremendous top line and bottom line growth, which is the core goal of mission critical organizations in 2010 and will continue to be the major focus over the next decade.

SAP is making some energy retrofits to save money, and while the three biggest savers are the usual ones that we all know about (substitute a solar array for utility power, switch lighting to LEDs, cut airfares by videoconferencing,) the fourth caught my attention. SAP is converting their data centre to DC.

Syracuse University was recently acknowledged for implementing a Green Data Center to drive an effective and efficient reduction in data centre power. The institution’s data centre has actually been called one of the world’s greenest computer centres and is the result of collaboration between SU, IBM and New York State.

The latest results of the Market Pulse survey of data centre and infrastructure management professionals in Asia shows clear signs of business optimism for 2011. The key findings of the survey, conducted biannually by Emerson Network Power, a leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity, includes the increase of the overall ICT infrastructure project pipeline for the first time since 2008.

Steve Smith, CEO of Equinix says energy improvements at the San Jose site will make the data centre “one of the more efficient in the world.” When data centre operator Equinix. opened a new facility in San Jose last month, it also revealed the latest in technology that aims to reap as much power as possible from every last watt.

An unforgiving economic climate has left many organizations struggling to sustain (or restore) profitability. Many of them reacted to the downturn by restructuring, trimming back R&D and marketing, and laying off employees. All of these moves leave a company in a vulnerable position when the market rebounds, which it inevitably will.

The US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is working with China to improve the energy efficiency of the country's data centres. The project is being run by Dale Sartor, head of the Building Technology's Applications Team, and Bo Shen of the China Energy Group.

The Berkeley Lab scientists will work with the China Institute of Electronics and the China Electronics Standardization Institute to "share best practices, case studies and other material" to help form standards and training programs for China's data centre industry.

Source: The WHIR

All those devices, applications, databases and servers people and businesses use every day require data. Lots of it. That data needs to reside somewhere, and the city of Eagan would like a piece of the storage pie. There is currently just one data storage facility that's open to all carriers in the metro area, in Minneapolis, and a consultant has told Eagan there's demand for more. The Twin Cities is the only metro area in the nation that has just one such facility.